“Why, Kyran? Why do you think I’m… like this?” Bitterness tinged her last question. She was angry—angry at the incomprehensibility of her own emotions.Kyran’s hand ran down her back, his expression serene. “Deirdre, you don’t feel joy over anyone’s death because you’re that kind-hearted. Your happiness doesn’t need to be built on anyone’s pain.”“But I should be happy! Shouldn’t I?”“Deirdre?” Kyran lifted her chin and gazed into her eyes. “Do you still love him?”“Love who?”“Him.”She shook her head with all her might. Tears of bitter, painful anger rolled out of her cheeks. “Love!? I hate him! I hate him so much… it’s wearing me out…”“So, you’ll never forgive him, no matter what he does?”There was not a shred of hesitancy in her response.”Never!”Even Kyran was taken aback by how quickly her answer sprung. For a long time, he typed nothing.The silence brewed a quiet sense of unease in her. “W-What’s wrong?”He gave a soft laugh. “Nothing. I was just thinking. If you

Deirdre backtracked into Kyran’s room and curled into herself on the bed after hiding under the blanket. She realized she could not face Madame Brighthall at all. If the old lady would ask her to see Brendan one more time—if she would even beg her without caring about her usual status and seniority—Deirdre could not be sure if she would say yes out of empathetic pain alone.Fortunately for her, two days passed without many incidents. At most, she would overhear the nurses’ conversation while doing laundry as they discussed how low Brendan’s odds were at survival. “Why must all geniuses die young, huh? He’s so young and brilliant and just a shining star! Why must every star fall?”“Girl, there were cameras around the door when I checked in for work. Someone must have leaked the news out to the press, and now even the reporters are flooding in.”“Jesus Christ. Are they vultures or what? The surgery hasn’t even finished yet, and these sh*theads are already milking the story for money

“Wake up, babe, we are gonna be filthy rich!”Lily froze and then scoffed. “So, how serious should your delusion be before I bring you to a shrink? I’m growing really tired of your sh*t.”“No, this is serious!” Blake cried hastily. “Lily, do you know who I met today in the hospital?”That caught Lily’s attention. “Yeah?”“Brendan Brighthall’s ex-wife! Charlene McKinney!”Lily was incredulous. “You what!?” She was the one who had bought Blake’s information from a broker, so she had read it before and knew who Charlene was. “Are you for real? Charlene’s supposed to be serving her sentence in prison!”“That’s exactly why this is our big scoop!” Blake could not contain his zeal. “Think, babe. Instead of being in prison, his ex-wife appears in the same hospital he’s staying in. The only possible solution here is that the Brighthalls abused their power and wealth to bail Charlene out! They flouted the law and let a murderer out. H*ll, he was still getting all cozy with the murderer!

“And that mask, too. Urgh. Feels too mysterious to my taste…”“She doesn’t look at all like someone who should be affiliated with Mr. Brighthall. You sure this isn’t like a huge misunderstanding?”“The woman in the picture is a godd*mn queen, sis. If she were here in this hospital this whole time, we should have noticed her by now! So yeah, I call doubt!”Deirdre was sensitive, so the first thing that leaped to her mind was that these people were talking about her. She raised her head and turned in their direction.“God, she’s looking at us! She’s not going to rearrange our faces, right? I mean, she got out of prison despite killing someone in a hit-and-run! This is the kind of thug we are not supposed to engage with. Let’s bail!”“Can you calm down? We don’t know if it’s fake news, okay? Even if she is that murderer, what will she do about us? She’s the one who shouldn’t be here!”Deirdre was even more sure that the target of their hostility was her, but only pieces of their dia

“First, we should get your tears wiped,” Declan said as he produced a handkerchief made from silk. He handed it to her. “Helping you is my job, Miss McKinnon, more like my promise to my friend. I’m supposed to take care of you so long as Kyran’s not around to do that. Besides, none of this is your fault. So don’t blame yourself, okay?Declan continued hesitantly, frowning. “Though I have to warn you. “The media vulture types are probably going to be all over you for these two days. They are going to try their best to milk as much news as they can from you before we completely shut the news down so they can squeeze as much money as they can for their miserable lives. Stay inside as often as possible. H*ll, stay in his ward.”Deirdre nodded—her heavy head seemed to threaten to fall at every nod. She was about to reach the end of the corridor when she heard a loud commotion. “This hospital is protecting a murderer! Brendan Brighthall bailed a murderer out of jail! He should explain hims